Fernando Alonso has claimed first place in a dramatic Malaysian Grand Prix this morning.

Lewis Hamilton started the race in pole position and kept it through the first corner, while Romain Grosjean moved into third before tangling with Michael Schumacher and falling to the back, eventually having to retire in the fifth lap.

On the ninth lap the race was suspended due to torrential rain, and it was 50 minutes before the cars were back on the track.

Hamilton suffered a bad pit stop early on and fell back into tenth, while teammate Jenson Button suffered damage to a front wing and was forced to pit, dropping to the back.

At the half-way point it was Alonso, Perez and Hamilton who held the podium spots, with Vettel hot on their tails.

Perez began catching Alonso, but the Sauber man's mistake in a corner lost him valuable seconds.

Meanwhile, Kamui Kobayashi was forced to retire before Vettel's hopes of a top three finish were dashed when he clipped an HRT car, dropping him down to 12th.

Pastor Maldonado became the third casualty of the race, soon followed by Vettel.

Alonso managed to hold off the challenge of Perez while Hamilton recovered from his pit stops to finish third.

Final positions: Alonso, Perez, Hamilton, Webber, Raikkonen, Senna, Di Resta, Vergne, Hulkenberg, Schumacher, Ricciardo, Button, Rosberg, Massa, Petrov, Glock, Kovalainen, Pic, Karthikeyan, de la Rosa.

Read how the whole race unfolded here.